Voltiana

Kevin emerged from his hiding spot to find his brother conversing with the Voltian girl. He immediately stared in shock.

"NO! Morino! Don't tell me she put a spell on you!"

Morino immediately turned toward him. "Kevin! She's actually not that bad! She didn't try to kill me!"

"Kill you?" Astari repeated. "Why would I try to kill you?"

"Don't...don't ask," Morino answered.

Kevin walked up to them, wary. "So she's not a bad alien, she's a good one?"

Morino eyed her. "So far, so good. She says she needs help finding her cat."

Astari nodded. "His name is Momo. He ran away from home this morning. Maybe it's because I gave him a bath?"

Morino just sighed and shook his head. "Come on. The sooner we find your cat, the quicker you can be on your merry way back home."

"Pfff, you don't have to make me sound like such a burden," Astari remarked. "Who's this lovely young man?"

"His name is Kevin, he's my little brother."

"By one year," Kevin interrupted.

"Kevin," Astari noted. "What an interesting name."

"Thanks. You are a very interesting...lady," Kevin responded.

Astari held out a silver amulet, which started to glow white. "This is the necklace Momo always wears. It's enchanted so that if he ever disappears, I'll be able to use it to find him."

She held it to the left and it began to glow brighter. "He should be this way! Come on!"

She ran down the opposite end of the street, and Kevin and Morino struggled to keep up. As they ran behind her, Kevin whispered to Morino.

"We sure she's not luring us to our deaths?"

"Not at all. I say keep an eye on her. Just to be safe."

They stopped in front of a closed-off park, where Astari began trying to enter. "The glow is strongest here. Momo must be within these borders."

Before Morino could say anything, she had already jumped the fence and landed on the other side.

"Woah," Morino thought.

She whipped her head around. "You guys coming?"

"We can't really jump a gate that high," Morino admitted. "Sorry."

"No worries!" she replied, touching the fence. The moment she did, it shattered into pieces, allowing Morino and Kevin to pass through.

"Dude," Kevin murmured. "THAT is pretty cool."

"How do you do that?" Morino asked. "Touch things and make them shatter?"

"It's a part of my magic," Astari said. "Purge Magic. Whatever obstacles are in my way, I can purge them, shattering them right to pieces."

She held up her hand, which began to glow with white sparks. "It also can purge any wounds or illnesses too! It's like a double-edged sword, isn't that amazing?"

"Yeah, when you put it like that, it really sounds like you've got some overpowered abilities," Morino remarked. "Crazy."

"This is nothing," Astari stated. "I had a friend whose mom could copy other powers, and I've got a sister who can control the WATER element."

"An Element?" Morino realized. "How powerful is your family?"

"Very," Astari answered.

She began searching the area for any trace of her cat. Morino continued on. "So, how old are you?"

"I'm only 15, but in my family, some of them are hundreds of years old. My people can live to be up to 400, did you know that?"

"No I did not," Morino said.

Kevin heard a sound coming from a nearby bush, and when he got closer, he heard it rustling. "Hey! I think something's in this large bush over here!"

Astari immediately held up the amulet to it, and it began to glow brighter than it ever had been. "Momo!"

She touched the bush, and it split into pieces, revealing a small, silver-white cat standing where it once was, its glowing eyes staring right at Astari.

She picked the cat up. "Momo! How dare you leave me and your family in cold blood like that? No treats for you when you get home!"

She turned her attention back to Kevin and Morino. "Thank you guys for all your help. I'm in your debt."

"Do you have cash on you—-?" Kevin blurted out.

Morino elbowed him. "Excuse me. The only thing we really need is to know how to win the Voltian Tryouts. That's all."

As soon as Morino said that, she gave him a curious look. "You're trying to ENTER the Tryouts?"

"Not just enter, but win and get selected!"

She began bursting into laughter, her face turning red. "But you're human! How are you going to do that?"

"The hell?" Morino exclaimed, clearly offended. "Is that supposed to be an insult?"

She wiped the tears out of her eyes. "I'm sorry. It's just...humans aren't usually there to win. If any attend at all, they're usually seen as a free win, so the most powerful and important competitors get the privilege of fighting them and moving on. No one actually expects the humans to do well, it's a marketing ploy so they can get more rounds in."

"So basically, even if we do attend, we'll just get some ultra-strong opponent who'll kill us the second they get the chance?" Morino asked.

Astari nodded. "Sorry, that's just how it is. I'm planning to attend though! I wanna be picked for Kenshi Fujii's Squad! He's the greatest warrior in our land!"

"Kenshi Fujii? Never heard of him," Kevin said.

Astari gasped. "What? You haven't heard of his legend? He's over a millennium old, he's fought in thousands of battles, he's so charming, and he has the Ice Element to his name!"

She stared at the boys, expectantly, but they just shrugged.

"He sounds like an alright guy," Morino stated.

Astari groaned. "Ugh. You two should watch the tryouts on TV. You might be able to see him in action!"

Just then, the watch on her arm began to ring. "Woah, call from my mom! Nice talking with you! Gotta go!"

In one fluid motion, she leaped over the gate and hurried along, Momo in tow. Kevin looked back at Morino.

"You're still planning to attend, aren't you?"

"Yep. You and me, we're going to use this park to practice. All day."

With that, the boys prepared themselves for the Tryouts by dueling with sticks, climbing through trees, running laps around the park, and swimming back and forth across the lake. The hotter the day got, the harder they trained. Once it hit late afternoon, they stopped to take a break.

"Do you think we've made any progress?" Kevin asked.

Morino wiped the sweat off his face. "Do I hope so? Yes. But one day of training won't really get us anywhere. All it can do is get our bodies warm for the big day tomorrow."

"C'mon man, you and I know a little combat! Doesn't that count for something?" Kevin pointed out.

"Yeah...but street fighting isn't exactly the type of skills we need for this job, I can bet."

Kevin laid his head back and groaned. "Ugh, I hate thinking about our reality sometimes."

"Well, if that's the case, our best option is to work to change it. Come on! Let's get a few more rounds in!"

They continued training and exercising until night hit. Once it did, they began prowling the streets again.

"What should we eat for tonight?" Kevin asked. "I'm thinking we sneak into the burger place, or take a crack at that new pizza shop that just opened on Main Street—"

"Actually," Morino interrupted. "I think I'll just find a spot to lay down."

Kevin appeared confused. "Why? Is something wrong?"

Morino shook his head. "Not at all. Just not feeling hungry today, that's all. You can bring something for me later if you want."

"Alright," Kevin answered. "Don't pick a spot that's too far."

Morino nodded and eventually found a quiet restroom that no one was occupying. He groaned and threw the door open.

"Cold and empty. Perfect. Sadly."

Kevin entered a bit later on, a box of pizza in his hands. "Look! I managed to snag an entire large box before they found out I didn't have any money!"

Morino chuckled. "Thief."

"By circumstance," Kevin corrected. "Now get up. It's time to eat."

They dined on the pizza, before curling up and going to sleep for the night.

The next day, they were woken up by loud noise coming from the streets. They looked outside and saw a mass crowd of humans watching a bus stroll down the street.

Once they stepped out the door, they noticed Mr. Itaya among the crowd, and they rushed up to him.

"Mr. Itaya!" Morino called out. "What's going on?"

Mr. Itaya pointed to the bus. "They've come to collect humans for their Tryouts. It will begin any moment now."

"That's the way to the Tryouts?" Kevin asked.

"Yes, but..."

Mr. Itaya watched as Kevin and Morino shared a look, before looking back to the bus. "Wait, you damn kids better not get on that—-!"

Both boys ran off as fast as they could to keep pace with the bus, and before Mr. Itaya could stop them, they had already gotten too far.

"Damn it!"

Morino and Kevin grabbed onto the side of the bus as a bunch of confused people watched, and the bus immediately stopped, sending both of them flying to the ground.

The doors opened, and a man with glowing skin, just like Astari's, stepped out. His eyes were gray, and he had radiant silver hair, paired with a trimmed beard.

"What's this? We've got volunteers this time? You kids here for the Tryouts?"

They nodded. The man burst out into laughter. "Boy, the Generals are gonna love this!"

"Generals?" Morino asked.

The Voltian man picked them both up and tossed them inside before Mr. Itaya got to the door. The bus door slammed shut, and the man pulled off immediately, leaving the crowd in the dust.

Morino and Kevin looked around, and they found they were the only ones on the bus.

"Yeah, you're riding solo, boys!" the bus driver said. "Kuuki Bansui. I'm the driver of this bus."

He looked at them in his mirror. "Though I'm very surprised human kids like you would even bother getting on. The last ones we got, well...let's just say they've been relieved of their mortal bodies."

Both Kevin and Morino gulped. The bus drove out of Batango and into a much nicer city, which had tons of Voltians walking the streets and doing their daily tasks.

Soon, they arrived at a giant Colosseum, where the roars of a large crowd filled their ears. Kuuki pulled right up to the entrance and opened the bus doors.

"Now get out! And word of advice, try not to die!"

They exited the bus and after a moment, they walked through the entrance of the Colosseum. Once they did, they saw the massive crowd filling the stands, cameras everywhere, and two fighters dueling in the middle of the arena.

"Woah!" Morino gasped. "What the HELL?"

The two fighters, a young Voltian, male and female viciously attacked each other in the middle of the ring. They both wore regal outfits and crowns, with long silver hair draping from their heads.

The boy fired a spear-like beam of magic at the girl, whose body twisted like a rubber band and dodged the attack.

"Dude, do you SEE that?" Kevin exclaimed.

After exchanging a few heavy blows, the young man hit the girl with a powerful spear of magic, sending her flying out of the ring.

The announcer walked up, lifting the boy's arm.

"Prince Asahi Asato wins! He defeats Princess Arisa to advance to the second round!"

Prince Asahi stared at the announcer. "Jukai, you don't have to make it sound like an inconvenience, you know."

"Sorry! Congratulations, Prince—-!"

Jukai saw Morino and Kevin enter, and his eyes immediately widened. The crowd turned to look as well, and a complete silence fell over everyone.

"It seems some humans have arrived!" Jukai announced. "How CRAZY is that? Two of them, at that!"

The crowd gasped and some of them laughed and cheered. All the young competitors stared at them, bewildered.

"Humans...?"

"Here...?"

"So foolish!"

Morino and Kevin felt the eyes of the crowd, and once they looked up, they saw a group of fancy-dressed individuals sitting high up in the crowd, their eyes analyzing the pair. In the middle sat a Voltian man with icy hair and eyes, glazed over them, curious.

"Humans who wish to be soldiers? Not a common mindset, I'll give you that." the man spoke.

He jumped down from his spot, turning towards Jukai.

"Give them a warm welcome, Jukai."

"Will do!"

Guards approached the pair with microphones. "State your names for the Tryouts."

"I'm Morino," Morino stated. "And this is my little brother Kevin."

"Perfect!" Jukai announced. "Add them to the bracket, boys!"

A holographic bracket popped up, and Morino and Kevin's names popped up on it.

"Now, for the next match! Get ready, folks! It'll be a BOMB! Morino, step to the floor!"

Morino pointed to himself. "Me?"

"Take your spot, competitor!"

Morino nervously made his way to one side of the arena, watching as everyone sized him up.

"Now for your opponent!" Jukai announced.

The holographic bracket began to shimmer and change, up until a name began to emerge next to Morino's.

The crowd eagerly watched, and once it was clear, Jukai read it off. "Astari Astato! Step forth to the stand!"

The entire crowd cheered louder than ever, and various competitors parted out of the way to reveal Astari, who appeared horrified as she reluctantly made her way to the stand.

As soon as she did, she addressed Morino. "Morino! What are you doing here? I told you this place is dangerous!"

"Well, getting into danger is my specialty, I think," Morino replied. "I can't pass up this chance!"

"This isn't a chance! It's foolishness! Stupidity! Idiotic!"

"Be that as it may, I refuse to live in Batango anymore!"

Astari looked to the ground, conflicted. "I see."

"Now!" Jukai announced, "Tune in for ASTARI vs. MORINO!"

Morino noticed a weapon rack on the side of him, just as Astari hesitantly began to glow white, activating her magic.

"LET THE BATTLE, BEGIN!"

Just as they began to charge at each other, the arena began to shake, and a giant creature burst out from the middle of the floor.

BOOM.

—-